Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan (Laura Clarke's Version)
is Toei's fifth entry to its Super Sentai series. It was originally broadcast from February 7, 1981-January 30, 1982 and is the only sentai to serve as a direct sequel to the one prior, Denshi Sentai Denziman. It was Toei’s last series with a Marvel copyright, but again with no Marvel involvement in the production. The theme was air, land, and sea. Development At the time it aired, Denziman was an extremely popular series and Toei was stumped trying to figure out ways to build on it. At first Toei just thought of extending Denziman into a second year ala Gorenger, but that didn't work out for whatever reasons. Toei then tried to go for making a sequel and calling the show "Plasaman" (which was basically just going to be the Denzimen with new suits), but that name was trademarked, so they finally settled on Sun Vulcan. The Denzimen were originally supposed to appear for a five episode arc, but it was ultimately to get everyone back. The closest to a crossover the series had was the two-parter story of The ESPer and Himiko!, which featured the Sun Vulcan team defending the lineage of those whose origins were from planet Denzi. Aside from the Denziman connection, this season is notable for breaking many Sentai traditions and pushing the franchise forwards in many ways. This was the first Sentai to be a three-person team, set up to go along the concepts of "air/land/water" to represent the three elements of planet Earth while setting a precedence of a team that is only three members (even though this technically was the only three-man Sentai team, with many others starting as three but growing larger). In addition, it was the first (and currently only) Sentai to have an all-male team. This was also the first Sentai to use representation of the team by animals, with the members represented by the eagle, shark and a panther. It had the first character who was truly emphasized in using a sword in combat instead of merely a weapon, becoming a set-up for many teams beyond this. It also became notable as the first and only team to permanently replace the "Red" member of the team, due to the original actor returning to his full time career, thus being written out and replaced by another. (while one other team has had a more radical replacement, it was temporary) And it was the first Sentai where the giant robot outsold the transport vehicle, cementing it as Sentai's main selling point. Plot The threat of the Machine Empire Black Magma causes the EPDS (Earth Peace Defense Squad) to decide to establish the Solar Squadron at a summit. From the EPDS's air force, navy, and rangers, Commander Arashiyama assembles three specialists to become Sun Vulcan. Harsh training begins. Learning of this, Black Magma attacks the EPDS base, but the Sun Vulcan debuts in time to save it. Hell Saturn prays to the Black Solar God and is rewarded with a revived Queen Hedrian, now a cyborg with a mechanical heart and a metallic afro. But plot after plot of Black Magma, even with Hedrian's aid, fails. Following the death of 01, Amazon Killer, a Vader, arrives from space, destroying the Sun Vulcan Base. A new Vulcan Base is built. The original Vul-Eagle, Ryuusuke Oowashi, is replaced by a friend and master of the sword, Takayuki Hiba (who first appeared on episode 23). The team successfully defends the psychic descendant of the Denzi, the nun Himiko, from Black Magma. Shortly after this, Inazuma Ginga shows up. Sun Vulcan devises the New Vulcan Ball, but their attacks are no use against Inazuma Ginga until he becomes the gigantic Inazuma Monger. Finally, the trio and their commander go to the North Pole to rescue Arashiyama Misa, and succeed not only in doing so (despite a fake Misa to confuse them), but also in defeating the Omnipotent God, the true leader of Black Magma, by feigning surrender and striking when it lowers its guard. Characters Sun Vulcan Guardians of World Peace * Daizaburou Arashiyama * Misa Arashiyama * CC * Junichi Yamane (44) * Natsuko Tsunematsu Other Allies *Sukehachi Yazawa (23-50) *Atarou Hyou (38) *All Super Sentai Machine Empire Black Magma * Führer Hell Saturn * Zero Girls * Queen Hedrian (4-50) * The Omnipotent God (5-50) * Amazon Killer (23-50) * Inazuma Ginga (45-49) * Machinemen * Dark Q (1-22) * Hell Fighters * Black Magma Monsters ** Grub Monger (1) ** Coela Monger (2) ** Naumann Monger (3) ** Bird Monger (4) ** Devil Monger (5) ** Machine Monger (6) ** Baseball Monger (7) ** Vision Monger (8) ** Scorpion Monger (9) ** Spider Monger (10) ** Fern Monger (11) ** Diamond Monger (12) ** Iron Monger (13) ** Armadillo Monger (14) ** Time Monger (15) ** Vaulting Box Monger (16) ** Gas Monger (17) ** Camera Monger (18) ** Toad Monger (19) ** Wrestler Monger (20) ** Sea Anemone Monger (21) ** Horseshoe Crab Monger (22) ** Giant Octopus Monger (23) ** Water Bug Monger (24) ** Fireworks Monger (Movie) ** Sea Snake Monger (25) ** Hungry Monger (26) ** Alien Monger (27) ** Crystal Monger (28) ** Rose Monger (Red Rose Fencer) (29) ** Buffalo Monger (30) ** Thunder Monger (31) ** Flat Monger (32) ** Crab Monger (33) ** Curse Monger (34) ** Cockroach Monger (35) ** Satan Monger (36 & 37) ** Totem Pole Monger (38) ** Centipede Monger (39) ** Bat Monger (40) ** Teakettle Monger (41) ** Dragon Monger (42) ** Mechanic Monger (43) ** Flying Squirrel Monger (44) ** Boxer Monger (45) ** Deathtrap Monger (46) ** Fighter Monger (47) ** Mummy Monger (48) ** Lightning Monger (49) Mecha * King Magmar (50) Arsenal Mecha Episodes Songs *'Opening': Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan *'Ending 1': Wakasa wa Plasma *'Ending 2': 1 Tasu 2 Tasu Sun Vulcan *'Mecha': Fight! Sun Vulcan Robo *Tatakai no Theme *Kimi wa Panther *Kagayake! Sun Vulcan *Super Women Zero Girls *Yume no Tsubasa wo *Umi ga Yonde Iru *Taiyo March *Bokura no Sun Vulcan *Ashita ga Aru sa *Tatakau Nakama Sun Vulcan Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * Zero One: * Zero Two: * Zero Three: * Zero Four: , * : * : * : * : Stage Shows * Sun Vulcan Stage Show at Super Hero Korakuen Yuenchi Notes *This series introduces the following firsts in Super Sentai: **The first to have a core team of less than 5 (3), followed by Abaranger (4). ***It is tied with Go-Busters in having the smallest core team. **The first without a Green/Black or Pink Ranger, followed by Gekiranger and Go-Busters. **The first where the team each possess control over an element. **The first to have a combining Robo, Sun Vulcan Robo. *This series has the following quirks that makes it unique among other Sentai Series: **The only one to be a direct sequel to the previous series (Denziman). **The only one where the core team is all-male, though at the time of this series, the three colors of Red, Blue and Yellow were always male whenever used. Because of the massive negative outpouring of a team without a female member, every season starting from Sun Vulcan's successor would have one after this. **The only season where the Rangers have the same given names as the actors playing them. *Ryusuke Oowashi (the original VulEagle) was written off the script because his actor was a singer and had to leave to make a new record. *While the title does not suggest any of the traditional Sentai names, it actually is based on a pun that makes it work: the Japanese pronunciation for "Sun" is "San", which is the same as the Japanese word for "Three"; with this the three-man team of Sentai, the pun works perfectly, akin to the usage of "Go" in Sentai names such as Gorenger, & GoGoFive. *The villains in this series were called the Machine Empire Black Magma. They will share most of their name with the Machine Empire Baranoia and the Machine Empire, the villains of Choriki Sentai Ohranger and its adaptation Power Rangers Zeo, respectively. *Sun Vulcan holds a TV show rating of 12.5% making it the third highest rated Sentai show, only behind Denziman and Gorenger. http://henshingrid.blogspot.pt/2011/04/super-sentai-tv-show-ratings-vs-toy.html *This series was originally going to be called Plasmaman, and would have featured the Denzimen making cameos.http://risingsuntokusatsu.com/?p=1568 *VulEagle mysteriously appears on one of the Power Rangers Action Card Game Series 3 cards behind Megaforce Red. *This is the first season to focus on Earth, Air, and Water followed by Liveman, Gaoranger, Hurricanger and Zyuohger. *In a recent interview with Marvel's Stan Lee, he reveals that he wanted to bring Sun Vulcan to the US in the 80s.